Why did you publish a column blaming Israel for the tragic fire when it was by then known Hamas was responsible?

Dear Ms. Graham:

By the time your column, "Palestinian lives and Netanyahu's latest 'tragic accident' in Gaza," was published on Wednesday, May 29, it was well known that it was not the Israeli strike on two Hamas terrorists which had caused the tragic fire in the safe area more than a mile away.

Even if you believe Israel should have known that Hamas was storing munitions where those two terrorists were and it was possible the munitions would get ignited even by the very targeted Israeli strike, using the least powerful bombs available, and those secondary explosions might send debris more than a mile away to the safe area that had been set up by Israel to protect civilians but where Hamas had also stored gasoline it had stolen and might ignite that gasoline causing a deadly fire, you should have acknowledged the tragedy would not have taken place were it not for Hamas storing munitions so close to the safe area and storing stolen gasoline in the safe area.

Unfortunately, you seem perversely intent on blaming everything on Israel while ignoring the fact that, as explained by our most respected expert in urban warfare, John Spencer, it has done more to minimize civilian casualties than any other army in history and has succeeded to an astounding degree.

Or could it be that at the time you wrote that column you were just ignorant of the fact that it was Hamas, not Israel, which was to blame for the tragedy and didn't think to change the column before it was published? In that case, I would expect to see a followup column acknowledging the errors in your May 29 column.

Sincerely,

Alan Stein

Sent on June 1, 2024

Renëe Graham is a columnist with the Boston Globe

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